Have independent bullying probe

In making the call, the NPTA is calling on the school’s principal, the school supervisor and teachers to recuse themselves from the at the Mayaro Government Primary School to be removed from investigations into incidents at the school which led to nine year old student, Tristan Khan’s elbow being broken.

Inv e s t i g a t i ons were conducted by the principal and the school supervisor.

Based on reports from said investigations, the Ministry of Education and the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association concluded that - contrary to Khan’s own testimony - Khan’s elbow was broken by accident as the boys were “simulating wrestling acts.” Blame was further passed on to the children, as teachers said they were warned just the day before about the practice.

Because the principal and the Ministry could possibly be implicated in the matter, President of the Assocation, Zena Ramatally, is calling for an independent investigation to ensure fairness.

“The incident needs to be thoroughly investigated to come to the truth for the benefit of both the victim and the alleged bully.

We are not trying to come down on the alleged bully, but we are seeking his benefit as well.” “The principal is ultimately responsible for the safety of the students in the school. They are claiming the boys crawled through a fence in the school to get to the recreation ground. Did the principal leave the hole in the fence? Was the Ministry of Education notified of the hole in the fence? Did the teacher employ duty of care? These are the questions that need to be answered by an independent investigation.” Newsday could not reach Education Minister, Anthony Garcia, nor Minister in the Ministry of Education, Dr Lovell Francis, for comment.

Ramatally said going forward, a national policy needs to be implemented to sensitise students about the difference between “play” and “bullying”. She also called for at least one Health and Safety Officer to be installed in all schools to ensure students are always supervised and that their environment is safe.

Also concerned about the fairness of the investigations, attorneys representing Khan yesterday submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Education Ministry to get access to the reports.

Douglas Bayley, one of the attorneys being instructed by former Attorney General, Anand Ramlogan, said the Ministry would have 30 days to respond to their request.

A pre-action protocol letter was sent to the Ministry on February 9 threatening legal action for “the negligent failure of the education system to proactively intervene to stem a pattern of bullying against Tristan.”